Fresh Pasta Dough
By Tested and perfected in the Sur la Table kitchen
Fresh Pasta Dough
By Tested and perfected in the Sur la Table kitchen
Yield/Serves:
Makes 4 servings
- 2 ½ cups (12 ½ ounces) Italian-style "00" or unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (optional)
- Semolina flour, for dusting pasta and surfaces
Fresh pasta dough is so easy to make, you’ll wonder why you never did it before. If you can find Italian "00" flour, use it to make very delicate, yet chewy pasta. If not, all-purpose or bread flour works really well.
Place flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Make a “well“ in the center of the flour mixture and add eggs and oil, if using. Using your fingers, blend the eggs into the flour mixture, stirring the flour in from the sides of the well and working outwards. When the pasta dough is thoroughly mixed, turn it out on a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough until it is smooth and flexible but not sticky, adding small amounts of flour as needed, 5 to 10 minutes. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour at room temperature.
To roll dough, secure a pasta machine to the edge of a long countertop. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into thirds. Keep extra dough covered in plastic while working with one piece. Flatten the piece of dough into a rough rectangle so that it will fit inside the width of the pasta machine. Place the rollers on the widest setting and roll the dough through the machine, catching it with one hand as you roll with the other. Take the dough and fold into thirds towards the center of the dough. Turn the dough so one open end faces the machine and roll it through on the widest setting again. Fold, turn, and roll once more on the widest setting. Continue rolling the pasta through machine without folding, adjusting the rollers to the next smallest setting each time, until the desired thickness is reached. If the pasta sheet becomes too large to handle, use a bench scraper to cut it into more manageable lengths and continue rolling until pasta is less than 1/16-inch thick.
Cut sheets to desired shapes and sizes, toss with flour and set aside covered with a clean kitchen towel. The pasta can be cooked immediately or covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to an hour before use.
Place flour and salt in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Make a “well“ in the center of the flour mixture and add eggs and oil, if using. Using your fingers, blend the eggs into the flour mixture, stirring the flour in from the sides of the well and working outwards. When the pasta dough is thoroughly mixed, turn it out on a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough until it is smooth and flexible but not sticky, adding small amounts of flour as needed, 5 to 10 minutes. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour at room temperature.
To roll dough, secure a pasta machine to the edge of a long countertop. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into thirds. Keep extra dough covered in plastic while working with one piece. Flatten the piece of dough into a rough rectangle so that it will fit inside the width of the pasta machine. Place the rollers on the widest setting and roll the dough through the machine, catching it with one hand as you roll with the other. Take the dough and fold into thirds towards the center of the dough. Turn the dough so one open end faces the machine and roll it through on the widest setting again. Fold, turn, and roll once more on the widest setting. Continue rolling the pasta through machine without folding, adjusting the rollers to the next smallest setting each time, until the desired thickness is reached. If the pasta sheet becomes too large to handle, use a bench scraper to cut it into more manageable lengths and continue rolling until pasta is less than 1/16-inch thick.
Cut sheets to desired shapes and sizes, toss with flour and set aside covered with a clean kitchen towel. The pasta can be cooked immediately or covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to an hour before use.